


The Rookie Day

by Snow



Category: Southland
Genre: Alternate Universe - Film Noir, Community: au_bingo, Gen, Retelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-23
Updated: 2010-06-23
Packaged: 2017-10-10 05:59:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/96346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow/pseuds/Snow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Violence.  Drugs.  Death.  Three words that defined my daily existence as a member of the Los Angeles Police.</p><p>A film noiresque look at Southland, from the perspective of John Cooper.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Rookie Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kristin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kristin/gifts).



> Thanks to Jules for the beta.
> 
> This fic was written for the Other: Film Noir square on my au_bingo square.

Violence. Drugs. Death.

Three words that defined my daily existence as a member of the Los Angeles Police. And now it was my job to train someone else to make my existence his own.

The first time I saw Ben Sherman I could smell the money on him. Unlike most times that happens, he wasn't being arrested. Instead I was the officer tasked with training his sorry ass.

Just what I needed. Another rookie who lost his stomach at the sight of blood and was used to relying on Daddy's money to get him out of difficult situations. It was seven thirty a.m., and I already felt like the day would never end.

The usual questions to him revealed the usual answers: he knew what he'd needed to get out of Academy and not much more. It was my job to enlighten him.

It wasn't an easy task. My usual attempt at lighthearted humor was met with the kind of non-comprehension that usually implied one of three options: deadly naïveté, outright manipulation, or foreign blood. My guess was that it was the latter, that the brutally handsome Ben Sherman was, in fact, Canadian. That wasn't the first wrong guess I would make that day, and it wouldn't be the last.

The first person we ran into while out on patrol was Barry. The Basehead. He was spun again, not that that was a surprise. Barry was a real meth addict.

He wanted my help. Everyone always wanted my help, but Barry was more pathetic about it than most. I didn't give it to him. I don't like to encourage idiocy; help a fool once and you'll have a dozen more lining at your door, wasting your time. Ben looked a little surprised by my callousness. He'd learn. Either that or the streets would kill his desire to be a cop. As much as I disliked getting rookies, I liked even less filling out the paperwork necessary when they decided to quit on me. But if they weren't suited for the streets then they weren't suited, and trying to keep them on it would only end up with someone dead. If LA was lucky it would be the rookie lying in a ditch. If it was a day with a particularly bad run of luck, then it would be me.

The first bust of the day was an easy one. An illegal U-turn, right in front of the car I was driving. I thought about the last time I'd pulled over a fool like this one, and ordered the rookie to search the car. The driver muttered about just cause, but if he'd lived on the streets he'd know that the only law is that which is enforced. And Ben and I were the enforcers in this scenario.

We dropped him back at the station, after I picked up a few salient details about the rookie. Ben came from money, just as I had expected. Having a job as a cop was dangerous. If he didn't quit soon he wouldn't go to money, he'd go to his grave.

Before that happened, we stopped for lunch, met up with some of the other officers. I supposed to any other man Chickie would have been a beautiful dame, but she just didn't do it for me. Neither did Dewey, but I felt the strong urge to throw them both in a wrestling ring and see who survived. My money would have been on Chickie.

The rookie didn't know that yet, but I sure did. The smart money is always on a dame like Chickie over a chap like Dewey.

If he survived tonight, he'd have time to learn.

**Author's Note:**

> I welcome and appreciate all kinds of comments, though I would (obviously) prefer if any criticism was constructive. :)


End file.
